Erling Ellingsen told C&VG that Age of Conan is not set on replacing World of Warcraft as the game but to attract its own set of dedicated players:

"But I think Age of Conan is going to appeal to a broad range of players, people who like MMOs, people who don't like MMOs", he continued.

"I've talked to so many people who have said, 'Oh I don't like MMOs', but then I start talking to them about Conan and they're like, 'Hmmm, yeah, this is maybe something I should try because this sounds different'."

Sounds like a realistic approach. Check out the rest of the article at the link above.